1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a robot that can freely move, and more particularly to a robot having the structure suitable for a small robot for home use.
2. Background Art
In recent years, various apparatuses are equipped with a remote controller for controlling the operation of apparatus. In the present state of affairs, each house has more than one remote controller. Also, various robots have been recently developed, and entered each home. When a robot is introduced into the home, it is unfavorable that a new remote controller is prepared for operation of the robot because the price is correspondingly increased. Since the portable telephones have broadly spread in recent years, a portable telephone may be utilized as the remote controller, instead of preparing the new remote controller, by providing the robot with the same communication functions as those of the portable telephone. In this case, in consideration of the service charge, it is beneficial to employ a packet communication function rather than the telephone function of the portable telephone. Also, the robot may be mounted with a camera to transmit the image from the robot via the base station to the portable telephone.
However, when the portable telephone is employed as the remote controller, the direct communication between the portable telephone and the robot is not enabled, in which a command inputted by a key operation of the portable telephone is once transmitted to the base station, and then transmitted from the base station to the robot.
In this case, a considerable time is required from operating the portable telephone till the arrival of the command to the robot, giving rise to various inconveniences.
For example, when an image is delivered from the robot, an obstacle may be actually imminent to the robot's eyes, even though the obstacle is farther away from the robot in the advancement direction on the image, in which there is a possible situation that a change-direction command for avoidance is issued too late.
In this case, the robot has a sensor for sensing the contact with the obstacle, in which if the robot makes contact with the obstacle, the robot is automatically reoriented. In this constitution, if the robot has a round shape, the robot can turn on the spot upon contact with the obstacle, while if the robot has an angular shape, the robot tries to turn after contact with the obstacle, but can not change direction successfully, causing a risk that the robot becomes immovable on the spot.
Also, when the robot is tried to move to any position, the amount of movement may be numerically inputted, or the robot may be moved while the switch is being pressed (e.g., refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-320467). Such a command method is effective when the robot can be directly watched with the eyes and the communication with the controller is made fast. For example, when one wants to move the robot within the house from the outside by issuing a movement command, employing a packet communication function of the portable telephone, it is difficult to enable the robot to perform a smooth movement.